Okay fit freaks. Let jump into our pj’s for this. I keep this quick and to the point.
I wanted to speak on sleep. Specifically, quality of sleep (how well you slept) versus quantity of sleep (how many hours you slept).
We always hear how we need 8 hours of sleep, but is 8 hours relevant if it was fragmented or disturbed sleep? Absolutely not. On the other hand, if you had a restful, deep 5-hour slumber, then you’d be better off with those 5 hours of sleep versus the 8 hours of fragmented sleep. With quality sleep, our bodies are primed for the next gym session. Our muscles are provided sufficient time to repair and grow (paired with proper nutrition obviously).
Now, there are side effects of continued lack of sleep (lack of quality and quantity); some more obvious than others. These include the following:
Time to exhaustion/Increased rate of perceived exertion in regard to exercise
I myself, was once balancing my gym life with caffeine and melatonin, but I started feeling like a Corpus Christi crackhead.
For some of us, we have had battles fighting the balance of training and sleep. Life is hectic for everyone. Whether its physically, emotionally, or mentally. We all have our battles, but we choose the therapy at the end of an iron bar to get us through the next hour or so.
I know it is a struggle, but keep in mind that if you have continued lack of quality sleep, this can lead to overtraining, and in turn, lead to injury and prevent you from reaching your fitness goals. So please, as with hydration and nutrition, sleep quality is definitely something to put focus on. Rest and recover on the days you know your body and mind need it. "No days off" is your ego talking. Take the dam day off to ensure you won't run your body into the ground and are VOLUNTOLD to take weeks off. It is not worth it peeps. I promise you this.
Remember peeps, this community is only as welcoming and supportive as we allow it to be.
Resources
Al-Abri M. A. (2015). Sleep Deprivation and Depression: A bi-directional association. Sultan Qaboos University medical journal, 15(1), e4–e6.
Al-Abri, M. A., Jaju, D., Al-Sinani, S., Al-Mamari, A., Albarwani, S., Al-Resadi, K., Bayoumi, R., Hassan, M., & Al-Hashmi, K. (2016). Habitual Sleep Deprivation is Associated with Type 2 Diabetes: A Case-Control Study. Oman medical journal, 31(6), 399–403. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2016.81
Covassin, N., & Singh, P. (2016). Sleep Duration and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Epidemiologic and Experimental Evidence. Sleep medicine clinics, 11(1), 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsmc.2015.10.007
Garbarino, S., Lanteri, P., Bragazzi, N. L., Magnavita, N., & Scoditti, E. (2021). Role of sleep deprivation in immune-related disease risk and outcomes. Communications biology, 4(1), 1304. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02825-4
Kohyama J. (2021). Which Is More Important for Health: Sleep Quantity or Sleep Quality?. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 8(7), 542. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8070542
Pilcher, J. J., Ginter, D. R., & Sadowsky, B. (1997). Sleep quality versus sleep quantity: relationships between sleep and measures of health, well-being and sleepiness in college students. Journal of psychosomatic research, 42(6), 583–596. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3999(97)00004-4
VanHelder, T., & Radomski, M. W. (1989). Sleep deprivation and the effect on exercise performance. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 7(4), 235–247. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-198907040-00002
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